And the SDCC Kept On A-Comin'!

I realize that after 4 days of these pictures, I'm going to be pegged by the casual observer as a Cosplay Aficionado.  I do appreciate the creativity that goes into it and the craftsmanship...and yes, I do appreciate attractive women dressing up as all of our geek fantasy characters (roll play IS fun), but it's nothing I wake and think about or obsess over until it presents itself really...unlike the plenty-o-other-obsessions which take the forefront in this blog.

The Comic-Con cosplayers really add to the atmosphere though.  It makes it feel like something special when every 20th person is letting their cosplay flag fly.  Like hoots and hollers by fans at a concert or sporting event, this is the way the a certain breed of comic fan expresses their excitement.

It's all positive, and that's a good thing.

You may think with the quantity of pictures I have, that I got everyone.  NOT BY A LONG SHOT!  The pictures I glommed here are merely the ones I say in my limited hours on the floor, the ones I actually caught before the river of a crowd flowed us apart and limited to only characters I knew.  A slew of anime characters, video game characters, sparkly vampires, zombies and the like were passed over by me.  I didn't make it a chore to go find these people.  The Comic-Con just brought them my way and a smile to my face.

Here's day 4.  Enjoy, I did.

Another Harley Quinn.  The nice lady who took the pic cropped out her giant mallet though.

Black Widow.

Wonder Woman and Supergirl.  This one was blurry because WW was complaining about how heavy her breastplate was at the time...you understand.  

Black Canary...very curvy girl-next door version...sigh.

A black and white Dorothy.  AWESOME!!!

Spy vs. Spy.  Now THAT's cool.

A great Galactus pondering the fate of the Earth.  Notice the tiny Silver Surfer off of his left shoulder.  genius!

A menage a troi waiting to happen?  I don't think I'm invited.  Black Cat, Catwoman and Poison Ivy.  The stuff dreams are made of.

Rogue.

Iron Fist and a young Captain America sneaking into frame.  Party crasher.

Daughter and mom Batman and Robin.

SOCK MONKEY!!  Who doesn't love monkeys?

Power Girl AND her boobs.  Not a fan of nylon though...this could have been the future Mrs. Overturf had she gone bare legged.  cie la vie.

Ariel, the Little Mermaid.

Wonder Woman with a billy club.  A bit long in the tooth, but so is the real WW.

sigh...nuff said.

Talk to you soon.

When the Pencil Hits the Bristol Board!

People have been asking me, "Did you see Robert Downey, Jr. when he was there?", "Did you go see the Twilight Panel?", "Were Stallone and Shwartzenegger really there and did you see them?",

When I tell them "no." they seem disappointed.  When I tell them I purposely avoided all the movie and TV events because of the crowds, they seem perplexed.  There are so many more people aware of Comic-Con in the last few years than ever were before, that a lot are actually unaware that it's a comic book convention. Everything else it is kinda just dog piled on.

I'm fine with all the things that fall under the umbrella.  They don't peak my interest really, but when I see anime, video games, TV and movies rushing to Comic-Con to sell their wares, I look at it as a good thing that helps the thing grow, keeps it vibrant and ensures it stays a powerful force.  But for me, it's not Hollywood that makes it special.

I enjoy some of the movies, sure..."Avengers" was amazingly fun and I'n perched on the edge of my seat until I get to see "Dark Knight Rises" this weekend...but that's not the spark that keeps me interested.

It's NOT the dynamism of super-heroes either.  For all the killing off of characters and re-booting of universes that happens at DC and Marvel on an annual basis, that crap really just detracts, for me.

It really is the core being of it that gets me to get excited about all of this.  When an artist first touches pencil, or pen or brush to a piece of bristol board...goddamit, THAT's when the sparks fly for me.

THAT's electricity.  THAT's excitement.

You know what celebrity sightings I had?  I heard Dan Piraro and Lynn Johnston speak.  I saw Klaus Janson talk about the intimacy of the communal work of creating comics.  and I shook Ramona Fradon's hand and told her I loved her stuff.

This had me grinning ear to ear and I never noticed Shwartzenegger was even in the building.

Remember...as much money as "The Avengers" made and as grand a job as Joss Whedon did with making it work (very good job indeed), it and he had all the work of Kirby, Romita, Perez, Byrne, Buscema and the rest to use as a foundation.

Ink on bristol board...magic.

NOW here's day 3 of the cosplay/half nekkid gurls I saw...that was pretty cool too.

Jeffy and Poison Ivy...what a way to go.

A modern-day Comedian.

A character from the upcoming Haunted Hotel...I believe this guy worked for the studio, still fun though I like the spirit of when the fans do it better.

Maybe the first proper Loki I saw.

Mmmmmmmmmm Catwoman.

A female Kato...I asked for a chauffer driven ride, but she whacked me with the nunchucks.

Some young Star Wars fans show their appreciation for Batman.

One of my heroes...BIG BOY!

Young Justice...Miss Martian, Batgirl and Robin.

Another hero of mine...Hemp Henry!  & son.

The worlds's ODDEST super team.

The Cheshire Cat.

Jack in the Box doesn't take the stairs, dammit!

Gladiator!

A fuzzy Zatanna and Black Canary...you're hands would have been shaking, too.

Another odd super team.

sigh...Mary Marvel..now I WAS star struck.

Wonder Woman.

A great Flash, complete with Barry Allens ring to hide his costume in!!!

Beetlejuice.

The Joker.

A great American pair of heroes...Superman and Abe Lincoln.

A silver age Comedian.

Cosplayers needing a break.  I just thought the image was funny.

A very young Flash.

:)  The Queen of Hearts.

Poison Ivy.  sigh again.

A gorgggggggggggeous Black Canary.

Indiana Jones and Dr. Jones, Sr.

After a long day of Comic-Con we adjourned to Hooters.  Here's our waitress.

Comic-Con does NOT stop at the front door of the convention center...that's for sure.

Talk to you soon.

You Meet the Nicest People at Comic-Con!

Wrap your heads around these numbers.  If you go see a baseball game at Angels stadium, your trapped in a milling crowd of 50.000 people.  The Rose Bowl holds about 100,000.  Use whatever large sporrts arena you're more familiar with and Google the capacity of any of them, this will be about the range.

Comic-Con attendance was 126,000 people per day over the 4 day event.

Now remember the rough and tumble rude and smelly experience you've undoubtedly had while attending any function as part of a throng this size.  People walking inches from your face, changing direction, yelling at the person they;'re with in YOUR ear, stepping on your toes, pushing, shoving, hot...

The crowd is this close and this pressing at Comic-Con too...but there's something weird about it.  They all have manners.

They say "excuse me", "pardon me", "are you OK?" as they bump your arm or suddenly stop in their tracks in front of you or what have you.

When I was walking around and would see a costume I thought was cool and wanted a picture, I would say, "May I get a pic?" and the person would freeze in the midst of all of this, strike a pose, and the crowd around us would part and people would stop and let you take the picture!?!?  Then I would thank the person, THEY would in turn thank ME?!?!?  And the crowd would start moving again.

And if I saw another costume 10 feet down the line, the same thing would happen.  "Excuse me.", "pardon me", "Please.", "thank you.".  Remarkable.

It was like everyone there, all 126,000, had mothers, 

I never got over it.  It never got old,  It never stopped being a pleasure.

There's a joke that I heard on Twitter.  "The problem with Comic-Con is that it's full of people who used to beat you up for going to Comic-Con.".

True.  Regular people have encroached on the nerd's domain.  The bully's have succumbed to the lure of our coolness.  But, apparently the nerds stood at the door and told the bullys and the mooks that they couldn't come in unless they behaved.

Nerds won.

Here's some more cosplay.

Here's a Supergirl and a female Captain America peddling penny cabs up in the Gaslamp District of San Diego.  The Con is leaking out of the convention center and taking over the town.  :)

One fo many Phoenix's

A young Professor Zoom "the Reverse Flash"!

Rorschak!  and who's that behind him?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Jeffy and Vampirella.  She smelled as good as she looks boys!

Some video game knob and a female Robin.

Even Batman has to wait in line...

A "red shirt" yoeman and a modern day Silk Spectre.  I told the yoeman I thought her costume was unbelievable because if she had been a real "red shirt", she would have been killed off on the first day.

A golden age Silk Spectre...caught her dressing in line.  sigh.

Catwoman!  Meow!

NOT Boba Fett, but Walon Vou.  I been schooled!

A great Flash.

An awesome 1966 Batman, and the costumer did a fine Adam West impression as well.

A freakin' 7 foot tall Darth...very imposing.

Marge and Maggie Simpson.  Awesome!

Wonder Woman and Batgirl...again, a little blurry, but worth it.

This Phoenix saw me aiming my camera from across the hall and struck her pose.  I'm telling you, there were 126,000 cool minded people shoved into this room.

Black Widow...very nice.

A female Aquaman.  There was a male one there too...but she was the highlight for me.  I was missing my Angels.

Very young Dark Phoenix.  Her parents should sleep nervously!

And her brother, Boba Fetting it up!

One of those two-leggedy Star Wars thingies.  Very ingenious costume.

A female Loki.

Another female Loki and an Iron Man.   This guys suit was motorized, his glove buttons would open and close his mask.  Dedication.

And from all the true cosplayers, even corporate America takes inspiration.  FX sent these two Wilfred's out to haunt the streets of the city.

More to come.

Talk to you soon.